Evacuation update

Besides being evacuated by buses and military aircraft, some refugees in New Orleans are being flown out of town on commercial airlines and some are being transported north on AMTRAK trains, FEMA Director Michael Brown said.

Brown said the agency has also located three Carnival cruise line ships which will also be used as shelters and temporary housing.

FEMA spopkesman David Passey said two ships are in Galveston, Texas and one is in Mobile, Ala., and will remain there. The evacuees will be bused or flow to those locations, Passey said.The capacity of the ships was not available.

Brown said AMTRAK trains have started transporting evacuees to other states, including Tennessee and Indiana. He said 650 passengers left Friday and the train movement is expected to peak at 1,500 evacuees a day.

Although 95 percent of the Superdome's (Katrina photos: Superdome) 25,000 evacuees have been moved to other locations, Brown said there are no plans at this time to close the stadium as a shelter.

"People are presenting themselves and keep coming to the Dome, '' he said.

Brig. Gen. Mark Graham said that he hopes his troops and other relief workers can move the remainder of the 25,000 remaining evacuees out of the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans by Sunday or Monday.

Meanhile, National Guard spokesman Lt. Kevin Cowan said the number of evacuees dropped off along Interstate 10 in Metairie had dwindled from 5,000 Friday night to 2,500 by midday Saturday.

But, he said, the number grows as more people show up to be picked up by buses.

Buses are running day and night to pick up the evacuees in New Orleans and Metairie, officials said.